Big day needed

Well I am going to have to win big tomorrow as I've had a fairly dull evening of poker, very little happening and I ended up about 1k up which is ok but i was hoping for more. Only 2 tables going on Party which halves the number of hands I see and means I'm less inclined to stay up till 3-4am. Calling it a night at 12.30 which is really early for a friday but I'm losing my concentration and might as well keep the win for the day. This leaves me needing about $2600 during the day tomorrow to hit my target - more than feasible but I think it's likely that I'll end up shooting slightly low. This will still be an awesome month and if I could sustain it would mean that I'll be making a 6 figure year so it's not exactly a disaster.

I've also realised that this evening has brought me right out of my slump and I've now won it all back - rubbish 2 weeks really which shows how much I could potentially make in a month if I don't tilt. However that will all have to wait until October where I can set my own schedule properly.

Wish me luck for tomorrow

Steve

June Profit - $17,418

Little movement

Well a win is a win but a fairly mundane and slow evening. Won a big pot with quad 6's as we both flopped a set (3's and 6's) and I turned the boat and got paid about $850. Few hands later it all went back as a somewhat silly call was made of my $140 reraise with pocket 2's against my KK and unsurprisingly enough he flopped a set - bit sucky as there were two callers and about $450 in the pot when the flop came - I had no way of getting away from my hand and don't mind this loss too much as he'll only hit 1 time in 8 so I win about $75 a hand on average from him based on his play. I'm feeling like I'm going blind as I'm quite tired and my eyes don't want to focus - only 11pm so not late at all. Anyway not much to mention, still playing well and now have 3 days to win $3500 to meet my 20k target for the month. I really want to make it, not that it has any long term impact but I just don't like missing targets I set myself.

Anyway bed is calling, so I shall leave this nice and brief, will probably post in more detail Friday and Saturday as I try to meet my months' target.

Steve


June Profit - $16,461

Back 2 Good

Only writing my blog title like a fool as I've been listening to matchbox 20 and the song title kind of sums up my feelings about how it's been going today. Didn't seem to get outdrawn much got into a couple of big pots and have resurrected my profits to over 16k for the month which feels superb as it means that I have recovered almost all my losses from recently. All my confidence has come back over the last few days and I think this recent run has done my mentality a lot of good.

I quite like the fact that my brother and one of my friends are playing more at lower stakes as it gives me people to chat too about progress and I think that is the one thing I really lack - someone who properly understands the game to talk through hands and stuff with, however with any luck Mr Clubbs and his pittance game poker will become good as it's cool to be able to help (try to anyway) with someone's progress.

Couple of hands below and some analysis for those who wish to read it!

$1,000 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Tuesday, June 26, 17:00:47 ET 2007
Table Table 128013 (No DP) (Real Money)
Seat 7 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 1: CLICK_888 ( $1,734 USD )
Seat 2: Force0070 ( $1,086.50 USD )
Seat 7: TiltyMonkey ( $1,204 USD )
Seat 9: benkot ( $910 USD )
Seat 8: Pokerbus21 ( $943.25 USD )
Seat 5: BulldogDavor ( $185 USD )
Seat 3: Push_you_out ( $1,183.82 USD )
Seat 6: sanuk247 ( $366.43 USD )
Seat 10: aDiZZya ( $854 USD )
Seat 4: MyLastMoney ( $247 USD )
Pokerbus21 posts small blind [$5 USD].
benkot posts big blind [$10 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to TiltyMonkey [ As Js ]
aDiZZya calls [$10 USD]
CLICK_888 folds
Force0070 folds
Push_you_out folds
MyLastMoney folds
BulldogDavor folds
sanuk247 folds
TiltyMonkey raises [$40 USD]
Pokerbus21 folds
benkot folds
aDiZZya calls [$30 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 7c, Jd, 7s ]
aDiZZya bets [$60 USD]
TiltyMonkey raises [$120 USD]
aDiZZya calls [$60 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 6h ]
aDiZZya checks
TiltyMonkey bets [$150 USD]
aDiZZya calls [$150 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ Ks ]
aDiZZya checks
TiltyMonkey checks
aDiZZya shows [ 6d, 9d ]two pairs, Sevens and Sixes.
TiltyMonkey shows [ As, Js ]two pairs, Jacks and Sevens.
TiltyMonkey wins $632 USD from the main pot with two pairs, Jacks and Sevens.


I have raised in late position and understand the defence of the blinds with any 2 cards although if he watched my game he wouldn't have bothered - I almost always have something when I raise. His bet on the flop where he has air is actually a good play as I may well credit him with a lot more than he has especially if I miss. However I have top pair and don't believe he's have bet a 7. I repop it and for reasons unknown he decided to call with 9 high no draws - very very odd play against me and unless he's calling to bluff on a later street this is just horrible. Turn comes a 6 giving him bottom pair and he calls off another $150 which is again a poor bit of play as if I have the J or an overpair he has 2 outs and must know he's behind. He checks the river and as I don't know where I am I check too and am shocked to see 9,6. Still nice pot and I'd hope he was disgusted with how he played this as he called off a lot to see the river.

$1,000 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Tuesday, June 26, 17:02:31 ET 2007
Table Table 128008 (No DP) (Real Money)
Seat 7 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 9: JoeyFBaby ( $2,394.36 USD )
Seat 7: TiltyMonkey ( $792 USD )
Seat 1: Xharris ( $2,097.73 USD )
Seat 4: Super_Rookie ( $1,245.35 USD )
Seat 8: mukl333 ( $175 USD )
Seat 10: CLICK_888 ( $950 USD )
Seat 3: Push_you_out ( $969.25 USD )
Seat 5: neutron_ ( $996 USD )
Seat 2: mamat6666 ( $434 USD )
Seat 6: BulldogDavor ( $175 USD )
mukl333 posts small blind [$5 USD].
JoeyFBaby posts big blind [$10 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to TiltyMonkey [ As Ac ]
CLICK_888 calls [$10 USD]
Xharris calls [$10 USD]
mamat6666 calls [$10 USD]
Push_you_out folds
Super_Rookie folds
neutron_ folds
BulldogDavor folds
TiltyMonkey raises [$70 USD]
mukl333 folds
JoeyFBaby folds
CLICK_888 calls [$60 USD]
Xharris calls [$60 USD]
mamat6666 folds
** Dealing Flop ** [ 2d, 5h, 6s ]
CLICK_888 checks
Xharris bets [$90 USD]
TiltyMonkey raises [$275 USD]
CLICK_888 is all-In [$880 USD]
Xharris folds
TiltyMonkey is all-In [$447 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 9d ]
** Dealing River ** [ Th ]
TiltyMonkey shows [ As, Ac ]a pair of Aces.
CLICK_888 shows [ Ks, Kh ]a pair of Kings.
CLICK_888 wins $158 USD from side pot #1 with a pair of Kings.
TiltyMonkey wins $1,766 USD from the main pot with a pair of Aces.

I pick up AA on the button which is always a nice place to have it as you can represent a standard button raise or steal and get more action than may otherwise happen. Anyway it's a multiway limpfest round to me so I decide to overraise to $70 as I think I may well get some action on this bet. Get two callers and when the flop comes 2,5,6 I realise that I am not going to get away from this hand especially to the original caller who is CLICK. Too many overpairs etc for me to be able to drop my hand to a raise. I bet it strongly to try to commit someones entire stack and CLICK (who is my bitch) duely obliges. I don't blame him for this play at all and don't really see how he can get away from this hand where he must think he's ahead. I call and we get AA vs KK for a $1766 pot which I think we both played fine but sadly for him I had better cards.

CLICK has had some huge losses to me with set over set and things, think I'm about 5-6k up on him in total which is ridiculous. It's not generally been that he's played badly I just seem to be his bogey player - he's the one I took 2k off in one hand which was also AA vs KK. If I was him I just wouldn't get involved in any pots I was in.

Boosh then bed methinks

Steve

June Profit $16,305

On the up

And so the recovery of form and confidence continues. I feel like I've played near perfect poker over the last few days (for my style at least) and wouldn't change how I've played almost any pots. So overall it is going much better and my profits are recovering so I may be able to hit the ambitious 20k target I had at the start of the month, even if I don't it is still going to be my best month ever and I've learnt a lot about myself as a result of this bad run - I'm not necessarily that good at coping with bad results if I let myself get tired and I need to be wary of this in the future. It could be that having quit my job I started feeling the pressure which I suppose is only to be expected. I feel in a great frame of mind and need to ensure this continues regardless of results at the tables. People have temporarily stopped sucking out constantly on me and long may it continue - am close to 2k up today and will be playing alongside glastonbury highlights until 2ish so with a bit of luck I can pick up another thousand or so.

I have found it very difficult to write as much when I am on a losing streak as all my feelings get mixed up and I don't really want to use this blog to just whinge about how crap it's going. i'm lucky I've found something which I'm passionate about and appear to be able to make an excellent living at, so when things are going wrong I need to remind myself of this and be thankful that with any luck I'll never need to work again. I'm not saying that this is easy and it requires a lot of effort and concentration but it doesn't really feel like work and I hope that continues to be the case long into the future.

On the other issue which has annoyed me (see previous posts) he's not been back to the house since thursday night which is lovely and we've really enjoyed having the house to ourselves, I feel calm about the whole issue but still don't want him here and I very much doubt that will change. Anyone who's reading this should check out my friend Euan's blog at


http://pittancegamepoker.blogspot.com

He's just starting out so has a completely different perspective on the game and is learning all the time so it should be interesting to see how he develops as a player - I'll help any time you want Mr Clubbs!

Anyway one interesting hand to post and it shows a bit about pot odds and knowing where you are in a pot to justify a call.

Tiltymonkey has (4,4)
psykotow folds
mamat6666 calls [$10 USD]
Rush9 folds
ipla2mchpkr calls [$10 USD]
sanuk247 folds
hongpan calls [$10 USD]
ExclusiveM calls [$5 USD]
BulldogDavor checks
** Dealing Flop ** [ 3c, 4h, 7h ]
ExclusiveM checks
BulldogDavor checks
TiltyMonkey checks
mamat6666 checks
ipla2mchpkr checks
hongpan checks
** Dealing Turn ** [ Ah ]
ExclusiveM checks
BulldogDavor bets [$25 USD]
TiltyMonkey calls [$25 USD]
mamat6666 folds
ipla2mchpkr calls [$25 USD]
hongpan folds
ExclusiveM raises [$125 USD]
BulldogDavor folds
TiltyMonkey calls [$100 USD]
ipla2mchpkr folds
** Dealing River ** [ 7s ]
ExclusiveM checks
TiltyMonkey bets [$160 USD]
ExclusiveM calls [$160 USD]
TiltyMonkey shows [ 4d, 4s ]a full house, Fours full of Sevens.
ExclusiveM doesn't show [ Kh, 6h ]a flush, Ace high.
TiltyMonkey wins $677 USD from the main pot with a full house, Fours full of Sevens.


Right an explanation of how I played this and why. i decided to try to check raise the flop as it had a lot of dangerous draws available and as it was a multiway limp I though it the best way to increase the pot and have the chance to make draws pay more to see the turn and river. Sadly it was checked round which is always a risk you run with this sort of hand. The turn is a 3rd heart and I decided to play it cautious as a flush is a distinct possibility and I'd put myself in this position through the check on the flop. This is why I just called the $25 - it was reraised by $100 in late position and I decided that this meant a flush had been hit so I'd need a boat on the river to take it down. I called the reraise because I thought I'd be able to squeeze a reasonable bet off him on the river if not take his whole stack if I hit the boat. Sadly exclusive is a good player and was aware of the full house possibility so check called the river. I made the bet too tempting to fold being about half pot size. If I'd bet much more I think he is good enough to get away from the hand. against many other players they would have bet the river and then called an all in reraise so we both played it quite well. I was happy with my play in the hand and raked in a nice pot. I knew I was behind and wouldn't have committed any more money to the pot if I'd missed.

Right short break then back to it

Steve


Monthly profit - $15,021

Recovery continues

Well it's definitely going better but I'm still running like both my legs are broken and I'm strapped to a chair, people keep hitting miracle cards against me - I know it's going to happen every so often and I could give some exact percentages, but at the moment everything is hitting against me. When you reraise by three times the bet pre-flop with KK and someone calls with 3,5 suited and hits a 2,4,6 flop it is very fucking hard to put them on that hand. I play a very tight game and am aware of what people may have but all the idiots seem to be crucifying me at the moment. I'm finding it so hard to get on a run of profitablility. I played very very well tonight and honestly would have played virtually every hand the exact way which I did but still only won about $800 as I got sucked out on in some of the bigger pots! This is bound to change round but I have to actively ensure my brain is inthe right place to deal with this as it seems that it happens right at the start of every session. I'm around 3.5k down since quitting but am recovering and I was over 6k down in that period so it's going ok and all it takes is one good day!

Right some hand analysis below couple of interesting ones which I'll comment on, I haven't decided whether to post some of the shocking runner runner losses which I've had recently so will leave them out of this post but may put them in tomorrow as they have really been irritating me.

***** Hand History for Game 6083054151 *****
$1,000 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Thursday, June 21, 15:21:22 ET 2007
Table Table 125489 (Real Money)
Seat 8 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 10: jimigold1888 ( $1,740.65 USD )
Seat 4: TiltyMonkey ( $1,027 USD )
Seat 5: uhaugaard ( $1,321.50 USD )
Seat 3: Humanity2 ( $1,296.40 USD )
Seat 8: dalassenos ( $940 USD )
Seat 9: DOUCe_sr ( $549 USD )
Seat 1: BulldogDavor ( $200 USD )
Seat 6: skouiz ( $403 USD )
Seat 2: da_grimreaper ( $400 USD )
Seat 7: ipla2mchpkr ( $955 USD )
DOUCe_sr posts small blind [$5 USD].
jimigold1888 posts big blind [$10 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to TiltyMonkey [ Ac Ad ]
BulldogDavor folds
TiltyMonkey calls [$10 USD]
uhaugaard folds
skouiz calls [$10 USD]
DOUCe_sr calls [$5 USD]
jimigold1888 raises [$10 USD]
TiltyMonkey raises [$170 USD]
skouiz folds
DOUCe_sr folds
jimigold1888 calls [$160 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 7h, 3d, Qd ]
jimigold1888 checks
TiltyMonkey bets [$430 USD]
jimigold1888 calls [$430 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 3c ]
jimigold1888 checks
TiltyMonkey is all-In [$417 USD]
jimigold1888 calls [$417 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 4s ]
jimigold1888 shows [ Kc, Qc ]two pairs, Queens and Threes.
TiltyMonkey shows [ Ac, Ad ]two pairs, Aces and Threes.
TiltyMonkey wins $2,071 USD from the main pot with two pairs, Aces and Threes.


Fun hand this one, I decided that having limped in I was going to reraise if anyone bet at the pot preflop. A pathetic raise to $20 was put in so I decided that was ridiculous and tried to represent a steal by overraising to $170. Once I've done this there is virtually no chance I'm getting off the hand at a later point so I am comitting myself (easy to do with AA). I get the call and decide that the only way to play this is to overbet each time to make it seem like I've missed and am trying to buy the pot. It worked beautifully and the lad ended up getting stacked with KQ and hitting the pair on the flop. This is a horrendous play from the KQ and got everything it deserved - only surprise was that no K spiked on the river given my recent luck.

***** Hand History for Game 6086744537 *****
$1,000 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Friday, June 22, 18:59:58 ET 2007
Table Table 126366 (No DP) (Real Money)
Seat 2 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: SIRvmvl ( $261.32 USD )
Seat 5: vindis7 ( $1,280.75 USD )
Seat 7: wojohoit ( $2,338.55 USD )
Seat 8: yhxking ( $903 USD )
Seat 9: FreddyRincon ( $940 USD )
Seat 2: TiltyMonkey ( $985 USD )
vindis7 posts small blind [$5 USD].
wojohoit posts big blind [$10 USD].
SIRvmvl posts big blind + dead [$15].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to TiltyMonkey [ Ac 8c ]
yhxking calls [$10 USD]
FreddyRincon calls [$10 USD]
SIRvmvl checks
TiltyMonkey calls [$10 USD]
vindis7 calls [$5 USD]
wojohoit raises [$30 USD]
yhxking calls [$30 USD]
FreddyRincon calls [$30 USD]
SIRvmvl calls [$30 USD]
TiltyMonkey calls [$30 USD]
vindis7 calls [$30 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 5c, 6h, Qc ]
vindis7 checks
wojohoit checks
yhxking bets [$10 USD]
FreddyRincon raises [$100 USD]
SIRvmvl folds
TiltyMonkey calls [$100 USD]
vindis7 raises [$325 USD]
wojohoit folds
yhxking folds
FreddyRincon calls [$225 USD]
TiltyMonkey is all-In [$845 USD]
vindis7 folds
FreddyRincon is all-In [$575 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 9s ]
** Dealing River ** [ 2c ]
FreddyRincon shows [ Qh, Jh ]a pair of Queens.
TiltyMonkey shows [ Ac, 8c ]a flush, Ace high.
TiltyMonkey wins $45 USD from side pot #1 with a flush, Ace high.
TiltyMonkey wins $2,377 USD from the main pot with a flush, Ace high.


This one was a crucial hand for my confidence. I was $1500 down for the day going into this one and got priced into a call preflop with A8 suited. Flop came with two clubs and an easy call for $100 - was raised behind me to $325 which again is an easy call which has to be made - problem if I just call this is that I probably won't hit the flush on the turn and would have to make a $600 call to see the river which I wouldn't be getting th price for. By moving all in I am making a much stronger play which is +EV due to the pot odds I'm being offered, even if I'm called I have at least 9 outs to take the pot. I hit the flush on the river and to be honest really deserved to have something go right - I virtually never draw like thi sbut the hand kinda played itself. Had I lost my confidence would be a trainwreck right now so this was probably the single most important pot I've taken for quite a while. Anyway the only surprise is what I was called down with - QJ no clubs was an awful call in every possible way - how on earth can he think this is a good idea I really don't know. Anyway big pot, big win and really significant in the current run I've been in.

right one more before I go to sleep and this is just a shocking play from my opponent who is drawing to 1 out and commits his entire stack.

Seat 1: bryan56james ( $1,025.09 USD )
Seat 9: IHateMuney ( $985 USD )
Seat 5: roberto26333 ( $1,107 USD )
Seat 6: Arkan64 ( $423 USD )
Seat 3: MyLastMoney ( $200 USD )
mamat6666 posts small blind [$5 USD].
fgondngr posts big blind [$10 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to TiltyMonkey [ As Js ]
IHateMuney folds
bryan56james calls [$10 USD]
LoveYou77 has joined the table.
modefede calls [$10 USD]
TiltyMonkey raises [$40 USD]
Arkan64 folds
mamat6666 folds
fgondngr calls [$30 USD]
bryan56james calls [$30 USD]
modefede calls [$30 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Ks, 3s, 2s ]
>You have options at Table 125489 Table!.
fgondngr bets [$50 USD]
bryan56james folds
modefede folds
TiltyMonkey raises [$200 USD]
fgondngr calls [$150 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 6s ]
>You have options at Table 125489 Table!.
fgondngr bets [$80 USD]
TiltyMonkey is all-In [$711.25 USD]
fgondngr is all-In [$461.92 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 9c ]
fgondngr shows [ 4h, 4s ]a flush, King high.
TiltyMonkey shows [ As, Js ]a flush, Ace high.
TiltyMonkey wins $169.33 USD from side pot #1 with a flush, Ace high.
TiltyMonkey wins $1,645.84 USD from the main pot with a flush, Ace high.


I deliberately overraised on the flop to show weakness and try to commit someone to the pot to call and then call a raise on turn with 44 is just suicidal. If he'd pushed on the flop I would understand a lot more as he could have felt I was weak and tried to take it down. I played it great he played it awful, not really much more to say but it still shocks me the amount of awful play you do see at the 5-10 tables. I would really expect the standard to be a lot higher but you see a lot of bad, bad play.

All from me for now, hopefully the recovery continues and I can get near my original target of $20k for the month despite my bad run. If not it's still likely to be my best ever month so I just need to keep it all in perspective and keep focussed as the cards are going to run hot and cold and I just need to suck it up when everything goes badly

Steve

Monthly profit $13,222

Return to form (hopefully not temporary)

Well I resurrected my form last night as I couldn't sleep and made about $1800 back which is really encouraging - I badly needed a winning session and although I was slightly down for the day as a whole it has shifted my mentality back to being more positive.

Couldn't sleep due to my delightful housemate deciding yet again that it is his place to comment on my relationship to my girlfriend (we've been getting on great) with some fine words such as 'he treats you like shit' etc etc. I've had a somewhat apologetic email for this but to be honest the tone of it appears to be that he is right to interfere. Well this is very much the final straw and when he leaves in 3 weeks I do have my doubts about whether I shall make any effort to keep in contact. There are some things which you just don't do. Very near the top of this list would be to interfere in someone's relationship upsetting both parties with some fine 'helpful' advice. Throughout the year there have been a variety of things which have majorly pissed me off, one of which involves placing huge amounts of pressure on us to let his girlfriend stay for 2 weeks while she has a job here by instead of asking his so called friends, instead telling them that they've already said yes, then backtracking to the story that Nat had said yes while she was away and basically making everything very awkward to ensure that he gets his way.

Well congratulations you have been successful but have lost every ounce of respect I ever had for you so I really hope it was worth it. Simply asking as a first instance would have been nice but apparently we're not even worth that!

Sometimes it takes a while for someone to show true colours and to be honest he's upset both of us at a number of times throughout the year - lets see - having a go at someone for not doing your washing up is a bit fucking rich - no respect, no compromise, no friend of mine.

Steve


Monthly Profit 12,800

Fuck!

Well the bad run continues, won $600 last night, played well but was still struggling at 5-10. Then come home today and quite frankly get bitchslapped repeatedly so I am now $2100 more down than I was before - am on a 6k downswing and feeling unbelievably low. I quit my job then go on the worst run of my life - what the fuck do i do if this continues???

anyway below is a fine example of why my life currently sucks - the guy was going in on the river whatever came so have a look and enjoy my pain

***** Hand History for Game 6082743205 *****
$1,000 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Thursday, June 21, 13:50:48 ET 2007
Table Table 126894 (No DP) (Real Money)
Seat 8 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 7: TiltyMonkey ( $960.50 USD )
Seat 3: Aces_Luv_Me ( $2,007.50 USD )
Seat 5: marko280 ( $1,304 USD )
Seat 10: da_grimreaper ( $545 USD )
Seat 6: rocketman78 ( $2,631.79 USD )
Seat 2: MyLastMoney ( $200 USD )
Seat 1: ZukemOwto ( $638.56 USD )
Seat 8: dalassenos ( $980 USD )
Seat 9: WWM501 ( $432.16 USD )
Seat 4: randomguy2k ( $190 USD )
WWM501 posts small blind [$5 USD].
da_grimreaper posts big blind [$10 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to TiltyMonkey [ 9c 9d ]
ZukemOwto folds.
MyLastMoney folds.
Aces_Luv_Me folds.
randomguy2k folds.
marko280 folds.
rocketman78 raises [$35 USD]
TiltyMonkey calls [$35 USD]
dalassenos folds.
WWM501 folds.
da_grimreaper folds.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 9s, 4d, 6c ]
>You have options at Jackpot #1304210 Table!.
rocketman78 bets [$82 USD]
TiltyMonkey raises [$164 USD]
rocketman78 calls [$82 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 3c ]
rocketman78 checks.
TiltyMonkey bets [$270 USD]
rocketman78 calls [$270 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ Jd ]
rocketman78 checks.
TiltyMonkey is all-In.
rocketman78 calls [$491.50 USD]
rocketman78 shows [ Jc, Js ]three of a kind, Jacks.
TiltyMonkey doesn't show [ 9c, 9d ]three of a kind, Nines.
rocketman78 wins $1,933 USD from the main pot with three of a kind, Jacks.



Unsurprisingly I am a touch pissed off about this one, usually I could accept it and move on but because I'm on a shit run this really really hurt - going to see how it goes later, have cashed out my salary for the week and have $2k left of profit in my account - not a disasterous position by any means and if I lose that I shall go back to playing 2-4 until I have a bankroll to shoot at 5-10 again. I've been a long term winning player am still 11k up for the month despite this mini disaster and it will settle soon. At least I fucking hope it will - couple of big pots and my whole outlook will change.

Steve


Monthly profit - $11k ish still good really just sinking rapidly

Balls

Well as if to celebrate my decision I have lost about $4k over the weekend, much of it by being poorly disciplined, chasing losses, playing cards I wouldn't normally and generally becoming increasingly frustrated and stressed by the situation. I really should know better than this and I have blown up some what over the weekend letting my emotions control how I played which is really dumb. Putting it in context I am still $2800 ahead this week and somewhere around $13,000 up for the month. I can't really complain and I need to use this as a lesson to stop myself from playing too much and getting tired and losing focus. I just don't like losing and even when I know it's likely to go badly I still fail to remove myself from my computer.

Anyway I'm going to take a couple of days off until I feel more rested and have managed to forget my losses. I've had plenty of incidences like this in the past and always recover well from them so hopefully when I resume I will be back to winning ways

Steve

Professional Poker Awaits

I handed my notice in at work on Friday, I've become increasingly convinced that I want and need to give this a go. If for any reason I can't make it work for me I can always return to working in Universities in a year or so as I'll have good references and a suitable amount of work experience to hopefully go for a managerial role. However that is very much plan B as I don't tend to mess things up when I dccide I want something. Haven't suddenly had a change of heart and I feel very comfortable with my decision as it's not something I've just lept into and I've thought everything through. Very Exciting...

Still I shall be at work for another 3 months or so as we've got some busy times coming up and I'm not going to leave until everything is sorted. As you can imagine my mother is delighted and could not contain her enthusiasm for my decision (spot the sarcasm)

Getting back to evens at the tables, I've had a slow few days where I've won a bit but nothing worth getting excited about. this is going to happen from time to time as I'm going to have periods where I play badly or get sucked out on a lot so although it has been frustrating as I love seeing my profits rise it, I'm quite comfortable with how it's going.

As I keep getting stuck early for between 500 - 1000 I've been playing a little more aggressively and it's interesting to see how differently you get treated at a table when you consistently raise and reraise. The below hand is a prime example of this and I'll explain why this somewhat strange pot has developed.

***** Hand History for Game 6068297278 *****
$1,000 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Saturday, June 16, 15:31:14 ET 2007
Table Table 125489 (Real Money)
Seat 1 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 1: NOMURAM ( $1,028 USD )
Seat 2: CLICK_888 ( $1,343 USD )
Seat 3: one_for_seb ( $543.75 USD )
Seat 4: rightnutgone ( $1,032 USD )
Seat 5: webers81 ( $846.50 USD )
Seat 6: oxionoixo ( $1,135 USD )
Seat 7: sterio007 ( $235 USD )
Seat 8: gonzalouc ( $1,364.25 USD )
Seat 9: harrypoker77 ( $1,264.24 USD )
Seat 10: WnkJimmy83 ( $485 USD )
CLICK_888 posts small blind [$5 USD].
one_for_seb posts big blind [$10 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to webers81 [ Ks As ]
rightnutgone folds
webers81 calls [$10 USD]
oxionoixo folds
sterio007 folds
gonzalouc raises [$35 USD]
harrypoker77 folds
WnkJimmy83 folds
NOMURAM folds
CLICK_888 calls [$30 USD]
one_for_seb folds
webers81 raises [$90 USD]
gonzalouc calls [$65 USD]
CLICK_888 calls [$65 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Kd, Ad, 3h ]
CLICK_888 checks
webers81 bets [$210 USD]
gonzalouc folds
CLICK_888 is all-In [$1,243 USD]
webers81 is all-In [$536.50 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 2h ]
** Dealing River ** [ 4c ]
webers81 shows [ Ks, As ]two pairs, Aces and Kings.
CLICK_888 shows [ Tc, Ac ]a pair of Aces.
CLICK_888 wins $496.50 USD from side pot #1 with a pair of Aces.
webers81 wins $1,800 USD from the main pot with two pairs, Aces and Kings.
rightnutgone has left the table.

Now on the face of it this pot seems like CLICK has horribly overestimated the strength of his hand and has paid the price for being a fish. However it's abit more complex than that. CLICK is a good player who I play with regularly and I have won about $3000 off him in the last couple of days. I had been reraising in late position and had got caught with Q,10 suited a couple of hands earlier where I reraised to $100 preflop and got called down by AJ. Now in this hand I limped in early position and then reraised to $100 looking like I may be trying to steal given my recent aggression. I flop top 2 pair andbet aggresively at it praying someone has an A as I know they'll raise. The only way that my opponent can play this with any strength is to raise me and because I have bet $210 with only $600 behind he opts to go all into force me off the hand. Sadly for him I actually have something this time and absolutely crush him for an $1800 pot.

Usually CLICK wouldn't call with that hand to my preflop raise but due to my aggression in previous hands he felt in good shape. I was very aware of my table image and had reloaded to take advantage of a situation exactly like this. Worked out nice and got me back level from a horribly misplayed KK from an earlier pot.

Still a slow and frustrating day and it's around 9pm and I'm probably $50 up for the day having played about 6hrs as Nat is away! not briliant but I think a big session is due now so maybe late onthis evening will see something of a breakthrough.

Steve

June Profits - $17,172 (not bad but I really want to keep it above $1k a day for the month)

Serious lack of control

I've really annoyed myself over the last two days, played terribly yesterday after posting and somehow won a bit. Tonight I decided that it'd be fun to call when I knew I was behind and generally donk off lots of cash. At one point after a horrible call which cost me $800 I was over 2.5k down for the evening and really depressing myself with how badly I was playing. However I managed to recover from that with a renewed sense of purpose and finally some solid play which meant that I only finished $800 or so down. It may not look good but that was fantastic considering everything I did. I'm too ashamed of my play to post any of the losing hands - I will do this in the future but I just don't want to ever see them again. Sometimes I can be really stupid and I knew what was likely to happen before sitting down to play - hopefully when I play full time this problem will sort itself as at the moment I have to fit time in and that leads to playing when I really really shouldn't. Don't think events at work put me in the best frame of mind and I need to sort myself out and not play when I feel like this.

I do worry myself when I have evenings like this as I should be smart enough to just quit or not play in the first place. Problem is that I hate having losing sessions and will continue to play when my mindset is wrong. It's something I will really have to work on in the future.

Despite all of this my figure for the month is up as pokertracker had an update today and it seems like it has now picked up some hands it had previously missed - quite a boost when you've played like something which is quite difficult in Yorkshire (this does make sense but you need to imagine what a yorkshireman would say about this) could explain further but I can't be bothered

Bad day all round: annoyed + losing = monumentally pissed off Steve


Monthly Profit $16,497

Very Very Pissed Off

Won't be playing tonight as I'm going out for a few drinks and some Thai food. Once again proved to myself that playing when knackered is a bad idea as I think I put in the single worst session of poker I've ever managed. Played like a complete amateur and went on tilt again. Still ended up ahead as I was dealt the winner in a couple of big pots but it could (and should) have been a big losing night.

Anyway reason I'm posting is that I've come so close to quitting this morning as my boss has really hacked me off!! If I had a problem with an action or part of job performance of a colleague I would take them to one side, talk to them and hear what they have to say. What I wouldn't do is send abrupt and somewhat offensive emails to tell them how crap they are! What makes it worse is that everything is very easily justifiable and should not be even the smallest problem - I can take criticism but fucking emails piss me off - it's just rude and a device for keeping people at arms length without hearing any facts!

I've been annoyed for nearly 4 hours and it's not going away any time soon. If I try to speak about it then it'll get brushed off as it has in the past - I don't need to be here, I don't need to do the right thing and stay through the busy period until October but I think I should as I'm a decent person and I don't like leaving people in the lurch at the worst possible time. If I was more impulsive I would have let my annoyance come out instead of dealing with it in a professional way and explaining all the areas which have been questionned. It's really all about dealing with people and my god is that an area to work on for some I could mention

Will this get resolved - NO!, will I say anything - no!

work sucks

Steve

Too Hot

The weather is stopping me sleeping consequently I got up at 1am last night and played for an hour as I just wasn't going to sleep. It seemed to be a good time to play as the tables were ridiculously loose and I won $1500 in an hour. Sadly that form has not continued over to today and it seems that whatever I do I'm getting beat. Have been dealt a number of good hands and failed to get paid on any of them and all of the marginal ones have seen me lose or raised off the pot. Irritating and I felt myself going on tilt which should really have cost me another $600 but I sucked out on the river hitting a set to trump the two pair. Don't feel I've played badly this evening but I'm tired and that makes me more prone to getting irritated by losing which is never good, playing detatched from results is far preferable.

Only one hand history from last night and my analysis of the horrible, horrible play by my opponent compared to the brilliant all inspiring play by me!!


***** Hand History for Game 6057380152 *****
$1,000 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Tuesday, June 12, 20:32:59 ET 2007
Table Table 126366 (No DP) (Real Money)
Seat 8 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 1: JelsinKirriu ( $1,234 USD )
Seat 3: melilfishy ( $1,024.50 USD )
Seat 4: Pilipinen ( $914.75 USD )
Seat 6: omalos ( $815 USD )
Seat 7: Raoh_ ( $382 USD )
Seat 8: ricecakes_88 ( $1,050 USD )
Seat 9: Raul_Oliv ( $904.75 USD )
Seat 10: jiw440 ( $1,623.75 USD )
Seat 2: jakhamma__ ( $1,000 USD )
Seat 5: webers81 ( $960 USD )
Raul_Oliv posts small blind [$5 USD].
jiw440 posts big blind [$10 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to webers81 [ Ac As ]
JelsinKirriu folds
melilfishy folds
Pilipinen folds
webers81 raises [$40 USD]
omalos folds
Raoh_ folds
ricecakes_88 folds
Raul_Oliv calls [$35 USD]
jiw440 raises [$207.91 USD]
webers81 is all-In [$920 USD]
Raul_Oliv folds
jiw440 calls [$742.09 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 4h, Qh, 3d ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 2s ]
** Dealing River ** [ 2d ]
jiw440 shows [ Kd, Ah ]a pair of Twos.
webers81 shows [ Ac, As ]two pairs, Aces and Twos.
webers81 wins $1,957 USD from the main pot with two pairs, Aces and Twos.


Well this one surprised me, made a standard raise with AA called by one and then a ridiculously large raise to over $200. Having only $1000 at the table I decided that there was no point trying to be cute and just calling as I'd be happy with the pot right there and disgusted if he outflopped me and I hadn't raised. So I decided all in looked weaker than a normal raise and shoved the pot. When he called instantly I assumed a KK was what would be turned but no, he had decided that AK was well worth the $1000 preflop gamble - I just don't understand this call. If I had QQ or below he's ok but he can't genuinely believe that I don't have KK or AA. It's just a stupid call, he overraised originally and should be good enough to get away from AK preflop, if he can't he's going to lose stacks playing it like it's the nuts.

Told you it was all inspiring play by me - I had AA and raised all in, wow am I a complex tricky player ;-)

Steve


Monthly Profit - $15,784

Back to Work Tomorrow

Well my gambling leave from work is over so it's back to the office tomorrow and havign to try to fit some time in during the evening to play. It's been another good day - not as good as I'd like and I am still waiting for a significantly positive day - think my best so far has been + 4K and I'd like somewhere above 5k to become a regular occurance. Don't think there's any reason why this shouldn't happen at least once this month so hopefully it happens soon.

I've enjoyed not being in work for a couple of days and being able to focus a bit more - sadly my sleep patterns haven't helped with this as I still wake up early so have been slightly zombified which isn't likely to help matter much. Lower volume today so not much to talk about - first hand of the day I was dealt A's against kings so an immediate $600 up which is always a positive way to ease into a session!

One other big hand on the day which is detailed below and shows a fine reason to bet your hand rather than slowplaying - personally I would have folded his hand to my bet on the river but that's why I win and he's a donkey

**** Hand History for Game 6056082551 *****
$1,000 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Tuesday, June 12, 14:06:13 ET 2007
Table Table 126855 (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 2: CLICK_888 ( $1,067 USD )
Seat 3: wolfoishere ( $908 USD )
Seat 5: nail29 ( $2,062.58 USD )
Seat 9: wiskyy ( $943.75 USD )
Seat 10: IdiTy ( $529.50 USD )
Seat 1: webers81 ( $955.50 USD )
Seat 8: Pokerbus21 ( $912 USD )
Seat 4: lombardo11 ( $418.16 USD )
Seat 7: csae7629 ( $439.28 USD )
Seat 6: cua20002000 ( $975 USD )
csae7629 posts small blind [$5 USD].
Pokerbus21 posts big blind [$10 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to webers81 [ 5c 5h ]
wiskyy calls [$10 USD]
webers81 calls [$10 USD]
CLICK_888 folds
wolfoishere folds
lombardo11 calls [$10 USD]
nail29 folds
cua20002000 folds
csae7629 calls [$5 USD]
Pokerbus21 checks
** Dealing Flop ** [ Qc, 2d, 2s ]
csae7629 checks
Pokerbus21 checks
wiskyy checks
webers81 checks
lombardo11 checks
** Dealing Turn ** [ 5d ]
csae7629 checks
Pokerbus21 checks
wiskyy checks
webers81 bets [$47.50 USD]
lombardo11 folds
csae7629 folds
Pokerbus21 folds
wiskyy raises [$95 USD]
webers81 raises [$162.50 USD]
wiskyy calls [$115 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 6h ]
wiskyy checks
webers81 is all-In [$735.50 USD]
wiskyy is all-In [$723.75 USD]
wiskyy shows [ Ac, 2c ]three of a kind, Twos.
webers81 shows [ 5c, 5h ]a full house, Fives full of Twos.
webers81 wins $11.75 USD from side pot #1 with a full house, Fives full of Twos.
webers81 wins $1,914.50 USD from the main pot with a full house, Fives full of Twos.


I would have thrown my hand away had anyone bet the flop - the turn bought the dream 5 at which point I was just praying somebody had slowplayed the 2 and was going to pay off big. To be honest I should have reraised more on the turn as I gave him an easy way out on the river but it worked out ok. When betting the river I knew I was ahead unless he had 22 or QQ and that was pretty unlikely (I was certain he had a strong 2 maybe a boat) My all in bet on the river may look like overkill but two things lead me to doing this - 1st I know he's one of the worst players at this level so is unable to get away from big hands. 2nd an all in looks more like a desperate bluff to get rid of him so he may decide to make the 'hero' call. Quite simply I got lucky to hit the 5 but he got stupid to lose an entire stack on his hand of A2. If he were to suddenly grow gills, live underwater and be known affectionately as 'Goldie' he couldn't be more of a fish.

The all in over bet on the river is something I like to use - usually the important thing is to get them pot comitted on the turn (I failed to do this here) as you'd be surprised what junk you do get called with in situations like this. That said a lot of players use it as a bluff so it's really all about observation and analysing the hand especially when considering the call.

I'm going to try and fail to get to sleep now so I'll be grumpy and unresponsive at work - no real change, it's way too hot at the moment and when you tend to suffer with insomnia like I do it makes for a fine recipe to ensure no relaxing sleep. Ah well - back to the tables tomorrow

Steve


Monthly Profit $15,140

New Toys

I have finally succumbed to my impulse to spend some cash and bought myself an Ipod. Went into town specifically to get one and thought the Apple Store would be the best place - amazing how wrong you can be. Sure they have all the equipment you could want but to be honest I couldn't even identify who were staff and where the tills were! Too much technology in one place and it is somewhat too cutting edge for me so rather than embarass myself I decided to go to Selfridges to purchase one instead. Unfortunately the Ipods are located near the computer stuff so I came away with a Wii as well. Ah well it'll give me more stuff to do whilst at home and Nat has wanted one for ages so it's all good. Despite winning reasonable sums I still find it hard to be frivolous with money, maybe it's because I want to invest in property and therefore can't afford to be wasting money on lots of stuff I don't need all the time.

Anyway having had the day off work which has been fantastic I played a fair amount and had a pretty good day - somewhere around 3k up I think, which is good but at the same time I find myself disappointed as I know I misplayed a few hands where I could have won a lot more, overall a solid effort though. Below are a few hand histories and my thoughts on each hand, a few interesting examples I think.

***** Hand History for Game 6053782875 *****
$1,000 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Monday, June 11, 17:06:31 ET 2007
Table Table 126855 (Real Money)
Seat 8 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 2: Raoh_ ( $128 USD )
Seat 3: CLICK_888 ( $1,492.50 USD )
Seat 4: oxionoixo ( $943.50 USD )
Seat 5: melilfishy ( $1,464.68 USD )
Seat 6: twogaddar ( $846.57 USD )
Seat 7: nail29 ( $1,636.58 USD )
Seat 8: MyLastMoney ( $200.75 USD )
Seat 10: Up1million ( $1,269.50 USD )
Seat 9: webers81 ( $970 USD )
Seat 1: PokerDandy76 ( $715 USD )
webers81 posts small blind [$5 USD].
PokerDandy76 posts big blind [$10 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to webers81 [ Ac Qs ]
Raoh_ folds
CLICK_888 folds
oxionoixo folds
melilfishy folds
twogaddar folds
nail29 folds
MyLastMoney folds
webers81 raises [$25 USD]
PokerDandy76 raises [$60 USD]
webers81 calls [$40 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 3s, Qh, 2d ]
webers81 checks
PokerDandy76 bets [$70 USD]
webers81 calls [$70 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 5c ]
webers81 checks
PokerDandy76 bets [$277 USD]
webers81 is all-In [$830 USD]
PokerDandy76 is all-In [$298 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ Jh ]
PokerDandy76 shows [ Kc, 4s ]high card King.
webers81 shows [ Ac, Qs ]a pair of Queens.
webers81 wins $255 USD from side pot #1 with a pair of Queens.
webers81 wins $1,427 USD from the main pot with a pair of Queens.

I'd stolen the guys blind from the SB a couple of times in a row and having raised it I felt that he was just defending and his range was extremely wide so I called and decided to play the hand based on what came on the flop. Q high was a superb flop for me but I thought he'd probably bet it for me and didn't want to get raised off it if I bet first. I just called his bet then did the same on the turn expecting him to check behind me. His pot sized pet felt weak so I pushed and it turned out he had hit a draw on the turn - bloody stupid way for him to lose $715 if you ask me, if he'd just folded pre-flop he'd have lost $10. Still these are the problems which you face when you decide to defend blinds in cash games - not neccesarily a good idea. This is not a hand which is typical of me at all but I tend to go with my instincts and was very aware of how I thought he viewed my raise pre flop.

This next one is just impossible for the guy to get away from

***** Hand History for Game 6053856260 *****
$1,000 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Monday, June 11, 17:25:25 ET 2007
Table Table 128013 (No DP) (Real Money)
Seat 1 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 2: Raoh_ ( $210 USD )
Seat 3: TRUMPIS ( $772.63 USD )
Seat 4: oxionoixo ( $1,023 USD )
Seat 5: melilfishy ( $1,000 USD )
Seat 6: twogaddar ( $1,599.26 USD )
Seat 7: MyLastMoney ( $200 USD )
Seat 8: KlausKanone ( $1,428.50 USD )
Seat 9: nail29 ( $1,456.75 USD )
Seat 10: randomguy2k ( $877 USD )
Seat 1: webers81 ( $1,065 USD )
Raoh_ posts small blind [$5 USD].
TRUMPIS posts big blind [$10 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to webers81 [ Qs Qc ]
oxionoixo calls [$10 USD]
melilfishy folds
twogaddar folds
>You have options at Table 125404 (No DP) Table!.
MyLastMoney folds
KlausKanone folds
nail29 folds
randomguy2k raises [$33 USD]
webers81 calls [$33 USD]
Raoh_ folds
TRUMPIS folds
oxionoixo calls [$23 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 4s, 5s, Qh ]
oxionoixo checks
randomguy2k checks
webers81 bets [$70 USD]
oxionoixo raises [$180 USD]
randomguy2k folds
webers81 calls [$110 USD]
>You have options at Table 125404 (No DP) Table!.
** Dealing Turn ** [ 8h ]
oxionoixo bets [$310 USD]
webers81 is all-In [$852 USD]
oxionoixo is all-In [$500 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 9s ]
oxionoixo shows [ 4c, 4h ]three of a kind, Fours.
webers81 shows [ Qs, Qc ]three of a kind, Queens.
webers81 wins $42 USD from side pot #1 with three of a kind, Queens.
webers81 wins $2,091 USD from the main pot with three of a kind, Queens.


I flop top set he flops bottom and for me it's just a matter o making sure all the money goes into the middle. The 8 on the turn did give a potential straight but I play a lot with Oxionoixo and I was certain he had 2 pair or a set by his raise on the flop. I really like my call here as if I push or reraise it gives the chance for him to get away but this way I just hand him the rope and he commences to hang himself.

Last one now - a very different hand

***** Hand History for Game 6054178635 *****
$1,000 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Monday, June 11, 19:06:38 ET 2007
Table Table 128013 (No DP) (Real Money)
Seat 8 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 4: Cappriccioso ( $1,247.75 USD )
Seat 5: melilfishy ( $1,000 USD )
Seat 6: twogaddar ( $692.01 USD )
Seat 8: webers81 ( $1,466.75 USD )
Seat 10: CLICK_888 ( $1,989.02 USD )
Seat 7: sanuk247 ( $185 USD )
Seat 3: oxionoixo ( $1,206.75 USD )
Seat 2: NOMURAM ( $585.75 USD )
Seat 1: Agentjade ( $980 USD )
Seat 9: LoveYou77 ( $1,000 USD )
CLICK_888 posts small blind [$5 USD].
Agentjade posts big blind [$10 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to webers81 [ Jh Jc ]
NOMURAM calls [$10 USD]
oxionoixo folds
Cappriccioso folds
melilfishy folds
twogaddar folds
sanuk247 folds
webers81 raises [$40 USD]
CLICK_888 folds
Agentjade calls [$30 USD]
>You have options at Table 128008 (No DP) Table!.
NOMURAM calls [$30 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 3c, Kc, 9c ]
Agentjade checks
NOMURAM checks
webers81 checks
** Dealing Turn ** [ 2c ]
Agentjade checks
NOMURAM checks
webers81 checks
** Dealing River ** [ 8s ]
Agentjade bets [$150 USD]
NOMURAM folds
webers81 calls [$150 USD]
Agentjade shows [ As, 5s ]high card Ace.
webers81 shows [ Jh, Jc ]a flush, King high.
webers81 wins $422 USD from the main pot with a flush, King high.


I raised preflop with JJ and got an all club K high flop - easy check in late position as if I bet I'm pretty much going to have to fold to any raise as I won't have a clue where I am. The turn brings another club giving me the third best flush available. Once it's checked to me I'm pretty sure I'm ahead but can't see any value in betting as if I'm behind it costs me a lot to find out and if I'm ahead I'm unlikely to be called. And on the river a large $150 is put in which is what I was looking for - I managed to induce the bluff and If I had been behind lost the absolute minimum on the hand. Really like how I played this as I think it gives me the maximum equity or minimum loss whatever the other players have.

Right it's late, I'm tired and sadly not concentrating too well any more so I have quit for the night and shall resume some point tomorrow as I'm not in work till Wednesday.

Steve


Monthly Profit - $13,478

Frustrating

Went fishing today and caught a few but I think it's safe to say that I shall never be an angler, I'm pretty sure that the trees were in more danger than the fish!

Anyway played this evening whilst watching the baseball and had a fairly disappointing evening, just couldn't get anything going at all. Ended up about $600 ahead but it was less than impressive. Best hand of the evening is below

**** Hand History for Game 6051402751 *****
$1,000 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Sunday, June 10, 19:59:15 ET 2007
Table Table 126894 (No DP) (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 5: HomerJ82 ( $960 USD )
Seat 6: sheriffi83 ( $1,359.50 USD )
Seat 7: camlar111 ( $953.75 USD )
Seat 8: Vitus5 ( $2,036.40 USD )
Seat 10: webers81 ( $1,075.75 USD )
Seat 3: Raoh_ ( $313.50 USD )
Seat 9: nemay ( $402.39 USD )
Seat 4: goat_from_hell ( $962 USD )
Seat 1: oxionoixo ( $1,357 USD )
Seat 2: Push_you_out ( $728.01 USD )
camlar111 posts small blind [$5 USD].
Vitus5 posts big blind [$10 USD].
>You have options at Table 128008 (No DP) Table!.
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to webers81 [ Kh Kd ]
webers81 calls [$10 USD]
oxionoixo calls [$10 USD]
Push_you_out folds
Raoh_ folds
goat_from_hell folds
sheriffi83 folds
camlar111 calls [$5 USD]
Vitus5 checks
** Dealing Flop ** [ 6s, 2d, Js ]
camlar111 checks
Vitus5 checks
webers81 bets [$25 USD]
oxionoixo raises [$70 USD]
camlar111 folds
Vitus5 folds
webers81 calls [$45 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Kc ]
>You have options at Table 125404 (No DP) Table!.
webers81 checks
>You have options at Table 125404 (No DP) Table!.
oxionoixo bets [$120 USD]
webers81 raises [$320 USD]
oxionoixo is all-In [$1,157 USD]
webers81 is all-In [$675.75 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 7s ]
webers81 shows [ Kh, Kd ]three of a kind, Kings.
oxionoixo shows [ 6h, 6d ]three of a kind, Sixes.
oxionoixo wins $281.25 USD from side pot #1 with three of a kind, Sixes.
webers81 wins $2,168.50 USD from the main pot with three of a kind, Kings.


Really happy with how this one went, I called the raise knowing I was probably behind as it had been a limped pot. Was pretty sure he had a set as I play with him a lot. When I hit the K it was just a matter of encouraging him to put his entire stack in. Think I played it quite nicely as I would have check folded the KK on the turn if he'd shown strength and I hadn't hit. It's so important to be able to lay the big pairs down and I think that's the area most people suffer worst with - the number of times you see KK and AA get stacked by overvaluing their hand post flop is unbelievable.

Hopefully a better day awaits

Steve


Monthly Profit $10,572

Recovery

Well the disaster that was Friday has been eclipsed as I made $3500 today taking my total for the month at $5-$10 to nearly $10,000. Best hand was when I had JJ on Button and called a raise to £30 - it got repopped to $90 so I called looking to hit a J. Flop came J,10,10 with 2 clubs. Checked to me so I bet $75 hoping to represent a steal, was raised to $150 which I reraised and then the fool with KK went all in - don't really know what he can have put me on as it was an easy fold. Anyway K didn't come so I took a $2000 pot!

Am winning at 6.67 PTBB per 100 hands at the moment for June which is awesome especially when you consider that I was only going at 1.68 PTBB during May. Hopefully it is showing an overall upwards slope where I can make over $20,000 a month playing part time. I do wonder how much volume I could realistically put in if I played full time as I've logged 7,500 hands so far this month and that's 4 tabling so isn't a huge amount of time.

Also had a shot at a tournament today $320 buy in using my Party Points. I;ve decided that I'll use my points to play the larger tournaments once a week and try to improve my tourny game to go with my cash game success. I know I'm not aggressive enough in tourny's but when I'm playing so few it is hard to make decisions where you may bust out - not the optimum way to play but I'm sure I'll adapt and hopefully take down the 300k on Sunday at some point this year.

I've cashed out for $2800 this week and grown my bankroll a bit more - I'm trying to slowly move it to $25,000 but this should take a couple of months as I aim to cash out at least $2-4K a week. At least this way if I do have a bad run I can drop back down and know that I've taken a large amounts of profit out already.

I've been wondering how many players online are seeing similar success levels to me - you only really read about tournament players so apart from a few very visible online cash players like Green Plastic and SBrugby I wonder how my results stack up. Anyway sleep is calling as I've had a long day

Steve


Monthly total +$9,978

Bad Day

Sometimes this game is really painful to play - got outdrawn for a $2000 pot with KK against top pair and a flush draw and proceeded to donk away lots more cash during the evening. Was really too tired to play but Friday night is meant to be a big evening when I play as I don't have work in the morning. Was unable to convince myself to just go to bed whilst behind and started making bad decisions. Unfortunately dropping $2.5k in an evening impacts my decisions beyond that as I have a habit of becoming slightly less aggresive afterwards and this will obviously impact on my profitability for a couple of days afterwards.

I've improved over time but I really don't like losing and do sometimes let it get to me. I need to remind myself of recent performances and despite losses last night it only wiped out what i won the day before - It just always feels more significant when it is a loss I guess.

I've also found that having support from my girlfriend helps keep things in perspective and I find it easier not to dwell on losses when she is here - sadly she's away this weekend so I'm somewhat prone to being maudlin about recent events!!

Steve

Work vs Poker

Playing in the evenings after work is hard going and I've found myself pretty knackered recently as I've got into bad habits in terms of going to bed at a decent hour. Problem is that the ideal time for me to play is around 10pm - 4am which doesn't exactly fit in with a 9-5 job and just isn't feasible during the week. Poker is not a game to play when you're knackered, especially for meaningful stakes and it certainly has a negative effect on my results but I find it difficult to decide not to play purely for that reason. My discipline is usually very good but this is my biggest problem.

Having said that I had a very good evening last night - played for about 2hrs 30 and won around $2.5K. Played very solid and got involved in a couple of big hands with KQ Suited (flopped flush) and KK (flopped set) on both of these I checked the flop and let my opponents bet turn before raising them - somehow managed to get paid off big on both as opponents turned straight and lower set!! Gotta love it when slow playing pays off - doubtful I'd have got any more out of either if I'd bet the flop.

Nat is away for the weekend so I am free to play as much as I want so I'm hoping for another big weekend of profit. Any luck I'll pay my mortgage off in the next month or so and continue with the upwards progression in profits which will give me the courage to leave my job and rely upon poker.

Steve

Introduction

Hi, I'm Steve and this blog will hopefully be charting my progression toward professional poker. I can be found as webers81 at Party Poker playing $5-$10 NL HE. I generally multitable playing 4 games at once and have been a profitable player for the past 2 years. I've only recently moved to $5-$10 NL (May 2007) and have already won over $16,000. in that short space of time. I'm aiming to make $20,000 this month and hopefully turn professional by the start of next year. I'm going to try to keep regular updates on my winnings and show the swings both financially and emotionally that playing poker at reasonable stakes can have. Any comments at any time will be read and appreciated.

Steve